ELITE DOMINANCE AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN AFRICA INTERROGATING DEVELOPMENTAL STATE EMERGENCE IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA.

Abstract

Democratization which encompasses full operation of civil and political rights, effective political participation in functional democratic institutions that engenders good governance and economic development have not been manifest in Africa for decades of democratic practice. This is attributed to cultural disparity between Europe and Africa, the pangs of colonialism, nature and dispositions of the political elites amongst other factors. Consequently, this study investigated the link between democracy and African environment, role of political elites on democratization in Africa and factors that encourage developmental state emergence in Nigeria with special focus on Southeast Nigeria. Elite theory which its central idea opines that power in a society is concentrated in the hands of a small group of individuals or organizations rather than being distributed equally among the population was adopted as theoretical framework. The study also adopted mixed method approach which combines both qualitative and quantitative research procedures. However, the study identified a correlation between democracy and African environment (R = 0.821, p = 0.012), also, significant influence of political elites in democratization in Africa was identified (R = 0.795, p = 0.015) amongst other findings. The study recommended prioritization of hybrid democratic system that integrate indigenous governance practices and democratic principles in Africa to realize democracy and development.